Field
The described embodiments relate to a coordination technique. More specifically, the described embodiments include a coordination technique that wireless coordinates playback times of electronic devices that output sound.
Related Art
Music often has a significant impact on an individual's emotions and perceptions. This is thought to be a result of connections or relationships between the areas of the brain that decipher, learn, and remember music with those that produce emotional responses, such as the frontal lobes and limbic system. Indeed, emotions are thought to be involved in the process of interpreting music, and concurrently are very important in the effect of music on the brain. Given this ability of music to ‘move’ a listener, audio quality is often an important factor in user satisfaction when listening to audio content and, more generally, when viewing and listening to audio/video (A/V) content.
However, it is often challenging to achieve high audio quality in an environment. For example, the acoustic sources (such as loudspeakers) may not be properly placed in the environment. Alternatively or additionally, a listener may not be located at an ideal position in the environment. In particular, in a stereo playback system, the so-called ‘sweet spot,’ where the amplitude differences and arrival time differences are small enough that an apparent image and localization of an original sound source are both maintained, is usually limited to a fairly small area between the loudspeakers. When the listener is outside that area, the apparent image collapses and only one or the other independent audio channel output by the loudspeakers may be heard. Furthermore, achieving high audio quality in the environment typically places strong constraints on synchronization of the loudspeakers.
Consequently, when one or more of these factors is sub-optimal, the acoustic quality in the environment may be degraded. In turn, this may adversely impact listener satisfaction and the overall user experience when listening to audio content and/or A/V content.